Disclaimer: Kyou Kara Maou does not belong to me. If it did, well, Sara would give me some more fanservice.

It seemed the people of Shin Makoku were not complete idiots. Or at least, they knew better than their king did.

Sara had not known what to expect exactly. He had learned early that he tended to make people react on two different sides of the spectrum: either they loved him or they disliked him immensely. Sara knew how to handle each situation and so he didn't feel awkward.

But with somebody like Yuuri around, who could feel awkward? He was so warm and friendly, Sara was sure if he was anybody else, he could have ignored the glares that had been directed to his back as they had walked to their carriage.

"You're probably tired, aren't you?" Yuuri asked. "Do you need a nap? I can show you straight to your room and--"

"Yuuri!" Sara laughed, his eyes glittering with amusement. He was too eager too please. He thought of everybody else before he did himself. Willing to give them anything they desired. That was going to land him into trouble. It already was. "I'm fine." Yuuri just looked at him worriedly. "Truly. Please. Do not worry yourself on my account."

"Sara, I told you before! Friends do that! I mean, wouldn't you worry about me?"

"Of course," Sara answered easily and a smirk began to appear on his face. He couldn't help it. "You're always on my mind, Yuuri." The chance was there, after all. He couldn't let it go to waste.

As Sara had guessed would happen, Yuuri blushed and looked away. "Well, ah…that's how friends are, you know…caring…trying to make them happy…you know…"

He loved how he had that effect on people. No matter who it was, he was sure he could make them react to him. It was so effortless, it was a cheap entertainment. But he had to admit, doing this to Yuuri was a lot more fun than it had been with anybody else. And he had seen even grown men blush at his words. Why was the Maou so very interesting to him? He was a toy that never grew boring and Sara had to wonder what else he could make Yuuri do.

"Yuuri!" He jumped forward, they had been sitting across from the other, and he wrapped his arms around the other boy, laughing again. "I'm so happy to have a friend like you!"

"S-Sara!" Ah, that stutter. That shy little stutter people would sometimes give him. It gave him power and he nuzzled Yuuri once before drawing back a little way, putting on a gentle smile when he saw how Yuuri was blushing.

"Yuuri? Why is your face red like that?" he asked innocently.

Yuuri looked away, his face still red. "Nothing! No reason at all…"

Pleased with the reaction he had gotten from him, Sara had been ready to sit back in his own seat until the carriage drove over a bump in the road and it sent him forward, closer to Yuuri. In just that split second, Yuuri had turned his face back around and now; both their faces were too close to be considered impersonal. Sara blinked, noticing how there seemed to be no distance between his and Yuuri's body. It was…weird. He'd been this close to somebody else's body before, but had never felt so uncomfortable like he currently did. It was not even the normal kind of discomfort. It was just he was really close and he was wondering, a little nervously, how Yuuri would take their close proximity. Would he push him off?

"Sara?" Yuuri gulped and smiled awkwardly. "Um, you okay?"

Sara nodded, unwrapping his arms from around the other boy's neck and sitting back in his own seat. Why exactly had he felt so self-conscious over something so small and insignificant? "I'm fine." It was then he remembered how he was supposed to be acting. "Ah! I bumped into you kind of hard! Are you okay?"

"Fine! But, um, do you need a nap when you get to the castle?" Yuuri was changing the subject. Was it because he wanted to forget what happened because he disliked it? But Yuuri wanted to forget and Sara, surprising himself, found he did too. It had been too awkward for him, so he allowed the subject change without any questions.

"I slept on the ship ride here and I slept well. Why?"

"I was wondering if you were jet lagged. Well, I guess it'd be ship lagged, huh?"

Ship lagged? What in the world was he talking about? He had noticed it when he first met Yuuri, but the Maou really did have a habit of saying some strange things.

Yuuri appeared to sense that he didn't know what he meant by jet lagged-or ship lagged. "Oh! You don't have jets here. You see, a jet is this thing that flies you in the air really fast."

"Like a dragon?"

"Not really. Humans make these things. They're kind of like…flying carriages?"

It seemed that Yuuri really did come from another world if he talked about flying carriages. He laughed. "Wow, Yuuri! Your world sounds amazing! I wish I could see it one day." In a way, he wasn't even lying. Flying carriages did sound like something he would have loved to see. Maybe even ride in one.

"Maybe you can one day! I'd let you this month, but time goes by faster here than in my world and you'd miss the month here probably just by spending a day in my world. Maybe next time you come over?"

Sara looked out the window, watching the scenery of Shin Makoku run by his eyes and if he looked just a little behind, he could see Berias riding along the carriage loyally.

"Yes. Maybe the next time I come over," he agreed to himself.

----

Murata was waiting for Yuuri to return with Saralegui. He had been offered to come along, but he had found it in his best interests to stay at the castle and prepare himself. He knew Saralegui was up to no good, but he did not know his plans and so, he felt very useless at the moment.

"What ails you?"

Turning his eyes to his shoulder, he saw Shinou standing on it and he sighed. "Do I always have to be your babysitter? Why do you have to follow me everywhere?"

Shinou smiled and leaned up against the former sage, his hand resting on Murata's glasses. "Obviously because there is nobody else I want to follow around. Now, explain to me exactly what's going on. You haven't been telling me very much lately. I'm curious. I've almost been tempted to possess von Bielefeld just for a couple laughs."

"Leave him alone," Murata warned. "I think he's been possessed by you enough."

"Then tell me what's going on and what has you so upset and perhaps Wolfram can be spared of my tricks."

For somebody so powerful and worshipped by many, Shinou was way too curious for his own good. It wasn't as if Shinou could do anything any longer and it probably would have been best if the king could have just taken his rest finally, but he had yet to leave and Murata truthfully couldn't see him leaving any time in the near future.

"Yuuri has fallen in love with a villain." Shinou raised an eyebrow in question, silently asking Murata for more of an explanation. "Small Shimaron's young king, Saralegui, is after one thing: power."

Shinou's became neutral. He didn't look very impressed. "Isn't that what everybody wants? What makes it so different this time? Just have Yuuri send him on his way packing and that will be the end of that."

Murata sent a glare sideways to the small spirit on his shoulder. "Didn't you hear what I said? Shibuya is in love with him."

"And?" Shinou seemed to be missing the point, which was rather unusual for the former king to do. Shinou was a lot of things, but dumb and slow were not one of them. He was doing this for a reason.

"And Yuuri is completely blind. He's blindly in love. I'm not even sure if he knows he's in love or what. But Saralegui just wants power for something and I don't even know what for. But I do know he's planning on using Yuuri for it."

Shinou suddenly grew serious. "It does not matter if Yuuri is blind because of his affections. What matters is that Shin Makoku is in danger. As a king, it is Yuuri's job to place the country before himself. Before anybody else, even if it is unfortunate." Shinou had been looking out at the horizon and he looked to Murata. "And as Murata Ken, reincarnation of the Daikenja and Yuuri's friend, I am sure you know what your job is as well and I do not need to remind you."

He didn't. Murata knew better than anybody what he should be doing and what was expected of him in his role. But, Murata thought in remorse, as Yuuri's friend, it was harder for him to do what he had to do. Yuuri was going to be hurt and nobody wanted to hurt him. Everybody was scared of doing it and so they were leaving it in Saralegui's hands. It was selfish and it was cowardly, but nobody said a thing.

The carriage that held the heartbreak Yuuri was about to suffer came into vision at last and Murata let out an anxious breath. "I guess it's time. Go back to your temple before somebody sees you and we have a mess on our shoulders."

"There is a lot of power in that carriage," Shinou murmured as he had looked back to the carriage coming and it had appeared he hadn't heard what Murata had said, until he closed his eyes and nodded. "Remember what I said." With that, he disappeared and left Murata nearly wishing he had stayed. He couldn't say he was afraid, but he was anxious.

It took too long for both Saralegui and Yuuri to come out of that carriage. It was as if time had slowed down too much and he had been watching everything in slow motion, but when they did come out and Saralegui took the castle in with a smile, and when he noticed Murata standing there, pinning him down with a serious look; Saralegui definitely knew he was not wanted in Blood Pledge Castle.

And the king only continued to smile, acting as if absolutely nothing was wrong. But that was fine with Murata.

"Hello, King Saralegui! It's good to see you looking so well! You looked so sick and pale the last time, I was worried."

"Yes, I wasn't looking too healthy, was I?" Sara chuckled. "Thank you for you for your concern."

Two could easily play the same game.

----

Sara was used to feeling socially uncomfortable. He was used to having people look down at him and he was used to being given phony manners. If he was honest, he wasn't used to people actually being sincere with him. Like how Yuuri was with him. It was as if he had never been through hardship and had never been hurt in his life. He probably hadn't. He had probably been cherished.

And he was, from what Sara saw. Everywhere Yuuri went, people stopped to give him a greeting. Not a forced, polite greeting. But the type you give someone when you're actually happy to see them. Had anybody ever been that glad to see him?

"Sara? You look lost. Is something wrong?"

"Hm? Oh, no. Nothing at all, Yuuri! I was just thinking about how nice your home is."

Yuuri immediately looked relieved and smiled. "Thanks! Well, it isn't really like I can take credit. I mean, I didn't build it, but…"

Sara laughed again. "Yuuri, you're so funny!"

They arrived at the room Sara would be staying in and when Sara was let in, he smiled at it. It was a nice room, colored all in red. The bed looked luxurious and from what he saw, the view from one of the windows looked amazing.

"I hope you like the room. I didn't know which one you'd like, so I just picked the one I thought looked the nicest. Berias' room is right next to yours."

Sara looked over at Berias, who had been walking right beside Sara the entire time, and smiled. "Thank you, Yuuri, for everything. You have definitely thought of everything for us, that is for certain. You are truly an amazingly thoughtful person."

"Ah…" Yuuri looked away, laughing slightly and looking as if he'd just been told something awkward. It was so easy for him to make Yuuri react in such a way. "Thanks, um, I'll be back in a couple of hours? So you can take a nap?"

Sara nodded and with their good-byes, Yuuri and his group left the room. When they left, Sara's smile dropped and he sat down on the bed, brushing his hands over the sheets. They definitely felt comfortable and the bed was soft and it felt like he was sitting upon a cloud. He didn't feel tired. He felt too excited. His plan was finally in action and now all he had to do was keep Yuuri from thinking about anything else but him. It wouldn't be hard, if the way Yuuri acted around him meant anything.

But it would be a little difficult with the way everybody else didn't seem to like him. He had seen the looks he had received and he did wonder how Yuuri could not have noticed it. He wasn't wanted here, but when had he ever really been wanted anywhere? It didn't matter. He wouldn't be driven away from his goal and Yuuri was needed for it. If they thought their coldness would do something, then they were solely mistaken. He still planned on stealing every little second of Yuuri's time and he knew he could do it.

"Berias, how long do you think it'll take Lanzhil to act the fool as always and just march over here and demand me back?"

"I don't know, Your Majesty. King Lanzhil does not trust you. He may consider just leaving you here to suffer."

Sara smirked and he brought his hand to his hair and began to play with the strands idly. "Who does trust me? But Lanzhil won't do that. My kingdom loves me. He knows leaving me here to die some painful death would cause him a war with Small Shimaron. It would be too much trouble for a lazy idiot like him."

"Yes, you--" Berias was interrupted by a knock at the door and he turned around to face it.

"Come in," Sara ordered and a soldier came in with a bow.

"King Saralegui, I have been told to tell you that your luggage will be brought to you soon." He stopped bowing as soon as he was done talking and stood there, awaiting Sara's next words.

Sara's face softened and he put on the brightest smile he could. "Thank you very much!"

The man's eyes widened as he blushed and he seemed to have lost himself before coughing and bowing. "Um…um…yes, King Saralegui! You are…you are very welcome!" With one last bow, he escaped from the room, running and shutting the door quickly.

The gentleness left Sara's face and his smile turned into a smirk once more. It was easy to figure out how people worked. Easy to understand what they liked best and what they wanted.

Yet it was Yuuri he couldn't figure out. Everybody had selfish qualities. Everybody always wanted something and people were never truly kind. But it was as if Yuuri was the impossible and he didn't seem to really want anything selfish. He wanted peace and not because it would be stress-free for him with lack of wars and such, but because he wanted everybody to get along. Even a child could not wish for such selflessness. And even how he wanted to be his friend, he seemed to think it was for his sake. Like he wanted to be his friend because Yuuri wanted him happy.

Sara didn't understand it. What would he be getting out of this friendship? Absolutely nothing. Why did he want it? It was a question Sara could not answer and he wondered if that was why Yuuri interested him so much.

Hopefully, he would find out before Lanzhil came.

Notes: You know, watching as more episodes come out, it seemed I was actually dead on for most of my theories about Sara and everything. I am surprised. I am also surprised by how obvious this pairing gets! Anyway, for right now, I want to focus on this story more so expect quicker updates. :D